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HENRY C. SMITH.
A farmer undertaker is not a usual combination of
business activities. In the Lotus Grove community
of Jackson Township, in Vinton County, it is the general
reputation of Henry C. Smith that everything he
has undertaken has responded well to his efforts.
His country estate is probably one of the finest in its
improvements in Vinton County. By profession he is
a licensed embalmer and undertaker, and has set up in
the business in that rural community, and has gathered
about him all the facilities required for an expert and
careful service.
His career as an embalmer and undertaker has covered
the last fifteen years. He keeps two hearses and
has a special building to house his stock of caskets and
other materials required in the business. He
received his license as an embalmer before he set up in
independent business as an undertaker, and was one of
the first to take out a license after the state law went
into effect.
His farm comprises 225 acres, most of it broken and under
cultivation.
Henry C. Smith was born in Jackson Township July
22, 1878, and is still a young man in years, though a
veteran in business experience. He received a
liberal education, having attended the public schools
and the Normal at McArthur and completed his training in
the Ohio University at Athens. The first five
years of his active career were spent as a teacher.
He then came to the section of Jackson Township where he
now makes his home, and bought the farm which has
undergone many developments since he took charge.
His house is a model of the kind in the country
community, comprising nine rooms, all modern in
equipment and furniture, and with a supply of natural
gas for lighting and heating.
Mr. Smith is a son of Mathias and Harriet (Coultrap)
Smith. His mother is a sister of Judge
Henry Coultrap, the prominent and well known citizen
of McArthur. Mathias Smith was born in
Hocking County near the Vinton County line in 1840.
When he was still a child he lost his father and his
mother also died when he was very young. He there
fore grew up among strangers, spending part of his early
youth in Vinton County. He was married in this
county and somewhat later his industry and thrift
enabled him to buy 200 acres of land in Jackson
Township. There he spent his years as a prosperous
farmer, and passed away in September, 1908. His
wife, who was born in 1843, died in 1911. Both
were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and in politics he was a republican and held several
local offices.
Henry C. Smith is one of a family of three sons
and four daughters, six of whom are living, all of them
married and with children of their own. His
brother Jasper is a member of the firm of
Hamilton & Smith, who conduct a large
department store at McArthur, Jasper Smith
having charge of the grocery department.
In Swan Township of Vinton County Henry C. Smith
married Miss Doretta Johnston, who was born in
that township Aug. 19, 1881. She was reared and
educated there in the public schools. Her parents,
Sanford and Mary (Bray) Johnston, were both born
in Vinton County and still live on their good farm in
Swan Township. They were the parents of two
children, a girl and boy. Thomas was born
in 1882, and is now a physician practicing in Mount
Gilead, Ohio. He was graduated at Ohio State
University at Columbus. Mrs. Johnston
is a member and one of the most active workers in the
Locust Grove Church. Mr. Johnston
has for many years been a leading factor in republican
politics in this county. He has served two terms
as county commissioner.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith were born,
on Mar. 12, 1907, twin daugters
daughters, named Mary and Martha, both of
whom are now in the third grade of the public schools.
Both Mr. Smith and wife are active members of the
Locust Grove Methodist Church, in which he is now
superintendent of the Sunday School and a member of the
board of stewards. In politics he is a republican.
Source: A Standard History of The Hanging Rock Iron
Region of Ohio, Vol. II - Illustrated - Published by The
Lewis Publishing Company, 1916 - Page 1066 |
